Sharky's Athletic Club co-owner Cindy Van Hoogenhuize has welcomed a new co-owner into the fold at the London Line fitness club.

Van Hoogenhuize's husband Bill, a long-standing local fitness guru and former police officer who has owned gyms in and around Sarnia since 1980, has now become his wife's business partner, buying shares from former Sharky's owner Chris Ttofalli. Ttofalli is in the process of opening a second 02 Fuel Fitness centre in Woodbridge, (O2 Fuel's Sarnia centre at Sharky's will remain) prompting the change in ownership.

While he may be the new co-owner at Sharky's, Bill – former owner of several clubs including Canterbury Racket and Fitness Centre – has long had a prominent presence at Sharky's, training clients and helping out with the business.

“Bill has a lot of experience in the fitness industry,” Cindy said. “He owned a gym before, that's why I got into it in the first place. It was his passion and it became mine.”

The long-standing club will still be focused on bringing the latest and most effective fitness techniques, equipment and training regimens to its customer base, Bill said, providing cardio, weight training, conditioning and a variety of specialty services.

“We're continuing our quest for cutting edge exercise techniques, equipment and protocols, that's really what we're focusing on,” he said. “But we're also focusing on education, proper exercises and safety – how to exercise while minimizing the chance for injury.”

Not only does the club offer training for virtually all ages and needs, Cindy said, but Bill also brings an expertise in training 'special populations' – clients with special conditions ranging from high blood pressure to obesity to cerebral palsy and everything in between.

Yet even with a wealth of experience between the two of them, the couple are still lifelong learners who still strive to provide their clients with them most up-to-date information they can.

“It's always a continuing education with new machines, new techniques, new methods to train quicker and get better results,” Bill said.

In recent years, Cindy said, the pair has helped inform their clients about the importance of diet, something that wasn't as prominent when they first started in the fitness industry many decades ago.

“Over the years I think the biggest change we've seen in the industry has to do with diet,” Cindy said. “When we first started, we were doing low-fat diets. But diet has evolved over the years – there's a lot more knowledge and research on how it affects your health, whereas back when we started, they thought fat caused illness. Now the high-fat diet is considered a better diet, so it's a complete turnaround.”

“All clients that sign up for programs and training all learn about diet,” she added. “Now we know that diet goes hand in hand with physical fitness. No matter how hard you train, you can't outwork a bad diet.”

Looking to the future, both Bill and Cindy said that Sharky's will still maintain its focus on giving back to the community that has supported them for so long.

“We truly enjoy giving back to local charities, whether it's the cadets or the Girl Guides or the Huron House Boys Home,” Cindy said.